Posts tagged “brand-history”

Sony started making rice cookers and radio repair equipment in 1946. Today it owns PlayStation, Columbia Pictures, Sony Music, and the world's largest music publishing catalogue. Here is the full story.

Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade, Dasani, Smartwater, Costa Coffee, Fuze Tea, and over 200 more brands all share one parent. Here is how The Coca-Cola Company quietly became a total beverage company.

Berkshire Hathaway started as a failing New England textile mill. Warren Buffett turned it into a holding company that owns GEICO, Dairy Queen, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, Kraft Heinz, and dozens more. Here is the full story.

Kering owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, and Pomellato. It was built by François-Henri Pinault from a French timber and retail conglomerate. Here is the full story.

Mars owns Snickers, M&Ms, Twix, Skittles, Wrigley, Pedigree, Whiskas, Uncle Ben's, and Dove chocolate. It does all of this without a single public shareholder. Here is the story of the world's largest private food company.

General Mills started as a flour milling company in 1856. Today it owns Cheerios, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, and Blue Buffalo. Here is the full story of how it got there.

Unilever was created in 1929 when a British soap company and a Dutch margarine producer merged. Today it owns Dove, Hellmann's, Knorr, Ben & Jerry's, and hundreds more. Here is the full story.

Louis Vuitton, Dior, Moet & Chandon, Hennessy, Tiffany, Bulgari, Givenchy, Celine. LVMH owns 75 luxury brands. Here is how Bernard Arnault built the world's largest luxury conglomerate from a near-hostile takeover in 1987.

Procter & Gamble started in 1837 selling candles and soap in Cincinnati. Today it owns Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Oral-B, and dozens more. Here is the full story of how it became the world's largest consumer goods company.

Nestlé started in 1867 with a single infant formula product. Today it owns KitKat, Nespresso, Purina, Maggi, and hundreds more. Here is the full story of how that happened.

Circuit City, Blockbuster, Borders, Pan Am, and TWA were all acquired or absorbed before disappearing entirely. Here are 25 major brands that did not survive the acquisition process.

Some indie brands sell out and thrive. Others sell out and die. And a few refuse to sell at all. Here are the stories of independent brands that faced the acquisition question.

Some brands have been bought and sold more often than houses. From Tropicana to Dr Pepper, these are the consumer brands with the most ownership changes.

From Band-Aids to blockbuster drugs, J&J spent a century building one of healthcare's largest empires. Then it split in two. Now Kenvue is being acquired for $48.7 billion.

The AOL-Time Warner merger was called the worst deal in history. Twenty-five years later, the brands from that merger are scattered across multiple companies. Here is where they all ended up.

Sears was once America's largest retailer. When it collapsed, its iconic brands were scattered across new owners. Here is where Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard ended up.

GE was once synonymous with American appliances. Then it sold the entire division to China's Haier for $5.4 billion. Here is the full story of how GE dismantled itself.

From a Chicago cheese business to a global food giant to a planned 2026 breakup, the Kraft brand has been merged, split, and restructured more than almost any consumer brand.